usb or firewire

[evosy1978]

hello

Im trying to put my dv footage onto my laptop. Im using the usb cable supplied at the moment. I have a sony hc47.

Ive installed the software and then connected the camcorder up but its saying I can only transfer photos and not the film footage. is this correct and so therefore Ive got to get a firewire cable for the video footage. My dads got an old jvc camcorder and he can use his usb to transfer video footage.

thanks in advance

[senu]

Although theoretically possible with USB , it is often the norm to transfer DV by firewire

Some Panasonic's allow it and your Dads old JVC seems to have done so but this would be using proprietary software
As DV is streamed ( large amounts of data moved at high speed) rather than "drag and drop" with USB, it is thought that the steady data transfer characteristics of firewire are better.
Some however think this is a peudoscientific explanation and in fact USB is just as capable
At any rate If your camcorder is not designed for USB DV transfer ( and most are not TBH) you'll have to use firewire as USB is for low quality video or stills

[y2k]

I have a sony handycam to and had to get firewire or as sony call it iLink lead for it, I read that with a firewire transfer it should be better video quality but I think thats a load of bs to try and get you to buy a sony ilink lead.

[senu]

Originally Posted by y2k

I have a sony handycam to and had to get firewire or as sony call it iLink lead for it, I read that with a firewire transfer it should be better video quality but I think thats a load of bs to try and get you to buy a sony ilink lead.

It isnt BS..
You could easily have used any firewire cable with good results. I have 4 sony camcorders (HDV X2 DVx1 and D8X1) all of which use firewire and have never set eyes on Sonys ilink lead.. ever ..
The camcorders will simply not use USB as they are not designed to and despite Sonys marketing of their branded ilink lead, they will work perfectly well with any brand
Obviously there are cheap and not cheerful leads which are undependable but equally there are costly ( Belkin type) non Sony ones as well.

[y2k]

Originally Posted by senu

It isnt BS..
You could easily have used any firewire cable with good results. I have 4 sony camcorders (HDV X2 DVx1 and D8X1) all of which use firewire and have never set eyes on Sonys ilink lead.. ever ..
The camcorders will simply not use USB as they are not designed to and despite Sonys marketing of their branded ilink lead, they will work perfectly well with any brand
Obviously there are cheap and not cheerful leads which are undependable but equally there are costly ( Belkin type) non Sony ones as well.

I did'nt get an ilink lead, I got a cheapish firewire lead and I know it does the same job as the ilink one that sony would like you to buy from them, what I was trying to say was usb is probably capable of transfering the video to the computer just as well or nearly as well as ilink/firewire but sony have probably designed the camcorders so that you can only use ilink/firewire, in my manual there is no mention of firewire in it, its all ilink so most people would see this and then look up ilink on the net and then go and buy one from the sony store making sony even more money, you should get one free with every camcorder anyways.

[senu]

In that case I misunderstood your post but the use of firewire is not really a Sony only thing. In fact it is the exception rather than rule to use USB
Sony call it ilink ( it is thier registered trademark , copyright ect)

It is Apple who coined the term firewire and the rest of the world IEEE 1394. They all mean the same thing but I dont think Sony is deliberately misleading by not using the term firewire

Many Software programs will also not support DV capture via any other method.
The theoretical speed of USB2 ( 480) ( not USB1) is slightly more than firewire 400 but firewire is said to be better at maintaining a sustained data transfer rate which is crucial for the optimum capture of DV video and avoid dropped frames
USB in this regard is said to be more prone to peaks and troughs
It may have become the norm for DV transfer for technical or historical reasons but Sony is definitely not alone in the use of this interface
Regarding leads, how many printers come with USB leads??

[redsox_mark]

DV was designed with Firewire transfer in mind. Remember in the early days of DV, we only had USB 1.1, which is far too slow. Now with USB2.0 it is fast enough, but for historical/design reasons most DV camcorders only transfer DV video via Firewire.

I don't think it is a Sony plot to make you buy a l-link/firewire cable.

Sony likes to put their own name to lots of things, I-link is only one example.

[y2k]

Originally Posted by senu

Regarding leads, how many printers come with USB leads??

Printers should also come with a free usb lead, I got a usb lead with my camcorder but no firewire which would have been better.

[redsox_mark]

My first DV (Sony) camcorder came with a "Ilink" cable.... but today they generally don't.

I used to get a SCART cable with a Video recorder or DVD player, now often don't. In some ways this makes sense as you can use other cables.

Even with Firewire cables, there are 4 and 6 pin, so if they supply one it may have the wrong connector for your PC.

One last thought on USB video transfer support: Because Firewire and DV grew up together, DV camcorders need to support Firewire as part of the standard (and most of the video capture software expects this). It is extra cost to provide the capability to transfer video by both DV and USB.